Sittingbourne boss Gary Abbott has admitted that any hopes the club had of making the Ryman League Division 1 South play-offs this season are now a thing of the past.

Abbott is vowing to fight on for the rest of the season, with promotion contenders Met Police visitors on Saturday. The teams faced each other at Imber Court only a fortnight ago with Bourne losing 1-0.

He said: "Realistically we know that we are not going to make the play-offs but we will just battle on. It’s hard and frustrating but it gives the youngsters a chance to play at this level."

Bourne’s 1-0 victory over Corinthian Casuals on Tuesday was their first at home for three months, since a 2-0 win against Whitstable in early November. Nick Reeves hit the winner 11 minutes from time with a
25-yard strike in front of just 96 spectators.

Abbott drafted in two more youngsters, defender Ryan Cooper and striker Connor Coyne. Cooper, 19, has joined from Maidstone, while 17-year-old Coyne is a Dover Academy graduate.

He said: "Ryan is quick and showed plenty of energy, while Connor had 60 minutes but looked a bit tired so we took him off. The first half was quite even and we had a couple of half chances. We played a lot better in the second half."

Midfielder Sam Collins was sent-off in Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Whitehawk but Abbott said it was a case of mistaken identity by the officials.